Lucali Salad
- Total Time
- 40 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:4 to 6 servings
- 5smallish tomatoes, halved and cut into fifths
- ½smallish red onion, peeled and thinly sliced
- 1rib celery with leaves, ideally from the heart, chopped
- 18canned, pitted black olives, plus 2 tablespoons olive brine
- 2teaspoons kosher salt
- 1teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
- 1teaspoon lemon pepper
- ⅓cup olive oil
- 1teaspoon red-wine vinegar
- 1head iceberg lettuce, outer leaves and brown bits removed, roughly torn
- 1cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ½cup red-wine vinegar
- ½teaspoon kosher salt
- ½teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
- ½teaspoon lemon pepper
For the Salad
For the Dressing
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)
521 calories; 54 grams fat; 8 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 39 grams monounsaturated fat; 6 grams polyunsaturated fat; 9 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 5 grams sugars; 2 grams protein; 684 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered byPreparation
- Step 1
Combine the tomatoes, red onion and celery in a large bowl. Add the olives, bruising each slightly between finger and thumb, and the olive brine.
- Step 2
Add the salt, peppers, olive oil and red-wine vinegar to the bowl, and mix gently with your hands or a wooden spoon. Cover with plastic wrap, and place in refrigerator for a minimum of 20 minutes and up to 2 hours.
- Step 3
Wash and dry the lettuce, then put in a bowl, cover and place in the refrigerator until ready to assemble the salad.
- Step 4
Make the dressing. There will be a lot left over, which you can cover and store in the refrigerator for up to a few weeks. Combine the olive oil, red-wine vinegar, salt, black pepper and lemon pepper in a jar or large bowl. Cover the jar, and shake until emulsified, or use a whisk to achieve the same result in the bowl. Set aside.
- Step 5
Assemble the salad. Spoon onto a large platter enough of the tomato mixture and accumulated juices to cover its bottom. Arrange some of the iceberg across the top of the tomatoes, and drizzle a little dressing over it. Add some more of the tomato mixture, then another round of the iceberg. Drizzle with some more of the dressing, and then repeat. Serve immediately, so the lettuce does not wilt, either with Italian bread or topped with meatballs, perhaps alongside spaghetti or pizza.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Ker
Hooray for iceberg lettuce! It's wonderfully crunchy. If you're making a salad for one, try this dressing: measure three "teaspoons" (just use any spoon) of olive oil, one teaspoon of any vinegar, and then add salt, pepper, and a pinch of any other salad spices you like (garlic powder, mustard powder, etc.) into a teacup. Stir it with the spoon, pour it over the salad. It took me a long time to figure out a simple way to make just enough dressing for one.
George K.
If you read the accompanying article, the idea is that "fancy" olives overpower the salad. Pizzarias typically use big black pitted olives that come in huge cans. So if you want the "authentic" house salad, you need canned olives. This recipe is for people trying to replicate that salad at home. You could just as easily follow most of the steps and substitute a good lettuce instead of iceberg and a good Kalamata olive, and end up with an inauthentic, but better-tasting salad.
AHW
I always reverse oil and vinegar amounts. Less fat, more tart acid, better mouth feel to me.
Tristan
I appreciate being introduced to a technique flavor or combination that elevates a dish and lets us enjoy it - without pretension or apology.
Phil
My secret ingredient for this dressing is a squeeze of anchovy paste. Nobody knows but everyone loves it!
gl
I live in Israel and make this every Friday night for Shabbat dinner. I use halved cherry tomatoes, red onion, sometimes parsley, black olives from a can, kosher salt and a spritz of tabasco sauce, sometimes pieces of sun dried tomatoes. The next day if there are any leftovers, I put it over lettuce and add some marinated artichoke hearts. It's worked for me for over 30 years.
Jeanne De Pasquale Perez
The way to eat those pitted black olives as a child in the 1950's is to put 3 or more on your fingertips and then poke one at a time in your mouth! Caution! -do this only when grownups are distracted or not in the room.
Marta Gonzalez
This recipe is essentially what we called our Italian mother's "leftover refrigerator salad". Everything left at the bottom of the salad bowl -- including the iceburg lettuce -- went into the fridge for lunch the next day. Totally soaked in dressing, it was delicious with leftover proteins. Dad used to pile it on a capicola and provolone sandwich. Thanks for the memories.
Jennifer
Finally, a NYT recipe a teacher can afford to make! Finally, a NYT recipe where ALL the ingredients can be bought at Stop & Shop. I've waited years for this...
Madeline
Sounds and looks like the house salad you get at Olive Garden, which I actually like a lot.
Mary
I loved this, and I did top it with a few meatballs. The comments here are either helpful or ridiculous. If i’m making a restaurant’s signature salad, i’m making it according to their recipe. Snark belongs on Twitter. Your changes can be saved to your recipe box. I don’t care to read either here.
Drtsc
This is essentially my departed mother-in-law's everyday salad. And yes, it was superb! Remember that seventy five years ago canned olives and iceberg lettuce were the only choices available in many places.
Mimi Denman
Sam- I just love the way you write. We make one of your wonderful suggestions each week at a minimum. Thanks for adding some delicious variety to our week!
Milagros
zest a whole lemon....set it on the counter to dry somewhat then add freshly ground pepper (tellicherry peppercorn )...presto: lemon pepper
Steve
Live a little. No one will tell on you.
Janice F
This is a salad you can’t stop eating and want to finish. Have made it many times, and only changes I make are to forget the additional dressing and layering business, and add sliced pepperoncini. Kalamata olives will overpower all of the other flavors-use plain ol’ canned black olives. Also-special note to olive snobs: there’s no such thing as “fresh black olives.” All olives we eat are preserved, whether in brine or cured with salt; an olive fresh off the tree is inedible.
Amber
I love this salad. I marinate the tomato mixture on the counter, as I do not like cold tomatoes. Trader Joes had little gem lettuce yesterday, so I used that instead of iceberg, which was awesome. Still crunchy like iceberg, but prettier. Sometimes I use kalamata olives to save myself a trip to the store just for canned black olives.
Danni
So easy and satisfying. I have a bit of a sweet tooth, so I added a few pinches of sugar. I think the lemon pepper is a nice touch. Thanks for a great recipe.
NM
This salad takes me back to the flavors of my childhood when it was served at weddings in the ‘50s. Thank you Lucali for preserving or adapting the recipe which invokes great memories! Can’t say enough good things about it!
Have been making this one for years...
Absolutely love this one....my most favorite recipe from the NYT. Thank you!
Eloise
Although this recipe has been in the NYTimes for awhile and I have been making it for several years, I just wanted to say what a delicious addition it is to a pizza or pasta dinner or almost any dinner. Great leftovers for lunch with some protein added.
Robin
Two of us ate every morsel of this deliciously refreshing salad! Finished with some freshly grated Parmigiano, because why not!? Iceberg is such an underrated lettuce- no other lettuce does crispy/crunchy that way. Might make it again tomorrow…
Janice Faulstich
Made this last night, to serve with orecchiette with Italian sausage. It was the perfect accompaniment-crisp, refreshing, and cut the richness of pork, long-simmered sauce, and a hearty pasta shape. Only changes are that I upped the red wine vinegar to 2 tablespoons-it wants more acidity; also used a bit less salt because I added maybe a tablespoon and a half of capers. Because capers, right? We had the leftovers for lunch today with fresh lettuce, and it was just as good. You need to make this!
Wendy
This is one of favorite recipes! It is delicious and simple to make!
Merkmrs
I love this salad. I’ve always wondered how restaurants make this taste so good. I’ve made it 3 times already. Served with meatballs in a red tomato sauce in the same plate. So so good. Didn’t even think about pasta!
Jennifer D
It never occurred to me to marinate all of the salad toppings hours before assembling it onto the lettuce. I have made something similar when I made a bruschetta and used it as a salad topping, but now I have new exciting ideas. This is old style is new to me, and I can hardly wait to try it.
Sarah
One of our favorites! I juice an assortment of grape tomatoes - beautiful and delish just as written!!!
Jennie
I LOVED this salad! I'm just sad that I ate so much pizza I couldn't enjoy as much of the salad as I wanted to eat. I hope it's not too wilted tomorrow to enjoy. I added a little sugar and the juice of half a lemon to the dressing, and cut the oil by some (I was just eyeballing everything anyway). So delicious and easy to eat. I think the iceberg and canned olives add to the ease with which it goes down. A sheer, unchallenging pleasure to eat.
Sj
This is the salad that reminds me of the favorite diner salad of my youth. I recently tried to just consolidate the entire recipe into a dressing for daily use. It's my new fave. To the dressing recipe: double the lemon pepper, add finely minced red onion, and finely minced celery heart (the innermost stalks and leaves)-- maybe a tblsp or more of each? Just heaven.
Anne
Delicious and easy
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